First Grade Update

First of all, Hannah has two teachers who job share.  One teaches Mondays and Tuesdays, the other teaches Wednesdays and Thursdays, and they alternate Fridays.  Back when I was teaching, another teacher (who also had two small children) asked me to do a job share with her.  I was unsure how it would work (Would I only teach mornings or would we alternate days?)  And I also didn't think it would be good for the students...although it would be great for me!  It didn't matter anyway because our principal didn't think it would be good for students either and didn't allow it.  So to be honest, I wasn't thrilled to find out Hannah was in the job share class.  However, we haven't had any problems.  Both teachers seem to be very similar and everything seems to work very smoothly. I still don't think it is a great situation for students who have behavior issues or learning struggles and need the consistency of one teacher.  But that isn't Hannah.  She likes both of the teachers and hasn't said any negatives about the situation.  I think she actually likes the switch-up to keep it interesting.

There are 19 kids in her class- 9 girls and 10 boys.  She didn't know any of the girls going into the year, but she quickly made friends with one and they are pretty inseparable now.  She still plays with all her kindergarten girls at recess.  I'm a room mom again this year and I volunteer in the library during her library time.  I like seeing how she acts in class...and the other kids too.  It's nice to be able to put a face with the names she talks about.

It was a big adjustment to go from half-day kindergarten which is only 3 hours, to all-day first grade.  Hannah was a little teary about spending so much time away from us and Olive complained every day because it was "sad not eating with Hannah."  Not seeing Hannah from 8:00-3:00 seemed like a long time to me too.  Then I remembered when I was working I dropped the kids off at daycare at 7:30 and picked them up at 4:00...and that was on a good day when I didn't have meetings after school!  And at the time it still felt like I saw them a lot.  So it's all relative.  

Even though some days she would rather be at home (or really at a park with us), Hannah definitely enjoys school.  Her favorite special is PE and this year she has it twice a week!  Library is her 2nd favorite.  Her favorite subject is math.  She especially loves the STEM activities they do every few weeks.  She is becoming a great reader and writer.  They journal every day at school so she gets lots of practice!  On her report card her teachers said, "Hannah is a hard worker and gives 100% each day.  She is a sweet girl and we enjoy having her in class."  Although of course I am proud that Hannah is a smart girl, I'm even prouder that she is a hardworking and kind girl.

Johnny Appleseed hats from the apple day

Olive and I manned the math station for apple day

One of their STEM activities was building towers out of tape and spaghetti.  Hannah's group had the tallest one!

Their first field trip was to Red Barn Farm in Weston, MO.

 sharing journals

They helped build a tipi on the front lawn of the school

PJ day